This time around
by PolarisWhatever
Summary: A conversation between the hero and the princess in the aftermath of the final battle. People are not always who they seem to be. "Do you know about the real meaning of the triforce, Link?"


This time around

Candleinthebox

Genre: Drama

Note: AU, somehow? This is supposedly taking place in another Zelda universe, after all the known games, but it could be in any game really. My beta is too busy to correct me these days, so if you see any mistakes, please do not hesitate to report it to me.

Well, I don't really know where this came from, it just... happened. I know this might seem confusing, so if you really don't get it, I'll include a footnote or something.

XXX

"Fools… the both of us… we've been… tricked…"

Link's eyes widen as The Great Evil Ganondorf gives out his last breath, the hero's bloodstained sword still embedded deep into his chest. He has won, and Hyrule can finally be at peace, and yet, he cannot help the feeling of utter wrongness that is slowly settling in his heart. A demon's last words cannot, should not have any meaning. He was only trying to confuse him. And it seems he managed it rather well, Link thinks, frustrated, wiping the mix of blood and sweat staining his noble forehead. It does not matter. The beast is dead, and from now on, everything is going to be fine.

As he leaves the battlefield, breathing hard, his numerous wounds tingling painfully, a glorious champion in a torn and tainted tunic, Link ignores the uneasy sensation gnawing at his insides, as though he has already been there, in this place and circumstances, already lived this situation once. The sun is bright in the sky, the wind is singing an ode to victory, and everything is quiet. It is a beautiful day for the world to be saved. Ganondorf's empty eyes just stare at the sky.

"Please, have a drink. You must be exhausted."

Link accepts gratefully the fresh water in a crystal glass, and bows before seating himself in the wooden chair she has offered (it must not be very comfortable, she apologizes, but almost everything has been destroyed, and no, of course not my lady, it does not matter). The princess is smiling, her blue gaze full of sympathy and wisdom, and he feels peaceful again. This is the one he has fought to protect, and she is fine, everything else be damned.

"At last" she says softly, "at last the dark times are over, and Hyrule is safe." She turns to him, still smiling, and he feels something twisting in his chest, and she is oh so beautiful. "It is all thanks to you, Link."

Standing in the ruins of her castle, in a simple but elegant dress, her delicate hand resting on the windowsill, she has never looked so much like a princess. Hyrule's people can rest assured, he knows, because they could not have a better ruler. She has always been so wise, so mature despite her young age, so compassionate, and if he can support her just a little, he will be happy. She will have the answers, if answers can be found, and he can almost see a new era of happiness and justice unfold before his very eyes.

This is the starting point of everything, he thinks, and everything will be different.

"Princess…"

"Zelda, please, my friend. Call me Zelda. There is no room for protocol between us."

"Zelda" he repeats, the name slightly awkward on the tip of his tongue, for the first time (such things did not matter before, familiarity slipped trough his lips with ease and natural, companion to companion, fighting together against evil, but now, he cannot help but feel coarse and rough in front of so much majesty), "rebuilding the kingdom will be a hard task. If there is anything I can still do…."

"You've done far enough, but it is a very nice of you to make such an offer. You are a good man." She smiles, turning her gaze toward the window and the blue, blue sky.

"Link, poor Link, the irony of it all."

The words are so spoken so softly that he barely catches them in the midst of so much peace and quietness. Startled, he raises his eyes from his cup, but she is still looking by the window, ignoring him. Her gaze is melancholic, as though contemplating something that saddens her immensely, and the strange sensation rushes back in this chest, curling like fire in his whole body (and no, it was here all along, you just ignored it like a fly lured by honey), a voice screaming through the fog in the back of his head. Fool, the voice says, lovesick, blinded fool. How did you not notice? How could you ignore it when the evidence was right before your eyes all along?

Like the warrior's intuition right before the blow falls.

"I… I beg your pardon?"

"You see, if Ganondorf had not been such a failure, once again, everything would have been much easier." Her tone is deceivingly light and flippant, but there is ice hidden underneath, and where is she now, the warm, wise princess who would take his hand and dream with him about a better future? The woman before him is like a statue, magnificent and ageless, but cold and distant, a woman he has never seen in his entire life (but maybe before then, hero, do you remember?).

"What a fool, and to think I practically guided him step by step."

Link bolts from his chair, the blood draining from his face, his hand flying instinctively to the pommel of his sword. He cannot have heard right. It cannot be.

_We've been… tricked…_

"Zelda?"

She chuckles, a low, ominous sound, and when she finally looks at him, he cannot help a shudder. There is no gentleness left in her gaze, none of the sweet, compassionate woman he knows, but a kind of cruel, ironic pity. Fool, her eyes say, just like the voice in his head, how pitiful you are.

"Poor Link, indeed. Ever the hero. Brave little soldier, you fulfilled your role perfectly. And then what? The courageous knight marries the pristine princess, and they live happily ever after? Do not pretend you did not think about it." She says mockingly, while disbelief and utter embarrassment show on his honest, naïve face, and something twists and turns painfully in his chest as though a snake is devouring him from the inside.

He has never been good at pretending.

"I…"

"Hush, hush, do not worry, I understand. You are so young and innocent. So… ignorant. I wish I was lucky enough to forget, myself." She spits, something like fury distorting her face a brief moment, and then she is calm and controlled again, like the surface of a pond when the storm is over. "The goddesses and their plans be cursed!"

He is shocked by the blasphemy, because this is not like her, not like the person she is supposed to be. She sees everything on his face, and it seems to amuse her immensely.

"How noble of you, when you have been their pawn from the beginning. Do you know about the real meaning of the triforce, Link? It is all a game, a game of balance that repeats itself again and again with the same characters for eternity. The hero, the princess and the demon fight endlessly, and the world is saved, each and every time. The three champions, courage, wisdom and power, turning like caged animals, revolving around the same point to preserve equilibrium. How practical."

He does not understand, it is plain enough to see. Standing in front of the woman who was the world to him, no, whom he _still_ reveres and admire and so much more, glowing like an angel with her golden tresses and fair skin, Link suddenly feels like a child. She does not bear the evil in her eyes like Ganondorf did, and it makes it so much harder. See how lost and confused the brave hero has become, the noble knight who fought monsters taller than mountains, travelled through time, climbed the moon, domesticated the winds and faced darkness itself and so much more. See how small and clueless the glorious warrior has become, because he never had to battle mere mortals. No, she is not evil, she just looks old and weary and still more beautiful than anything he has ever seen. The world is blurring before his eyes, and Link can feel his breath quickening, coming in pants and gasps while he struggles to keep standing upright.

"I hated you for a while, my knight. You are the light, he is the dark, your roles are easy and defined, but where do I stand? Why me only, why had this burden been bestowed upon my sole shoulders, while both of you remained oblivious, fighting fiercely as though it was the first time?"

She bends before him, a delicate, flawless hand reaching to caress his cheek (how long has he been kneeling on the floor?), and speaks softly, her cold eyes holding his like a spell, her voice like crystal shattering (just like the empty glass on the table).

"You must pardon me, I know realize how preposterous it was of me. Of course you are not at fault – nor him for that matter – and I merely lost control of myself for a while. Long has passed since then, unfortunately, and I had time to reflect on it all. Yes, so long has passed… The only ones I shall blame are, if I may say, the powers that be, and the fate that the Goddesses have chained us all to. All my apologies, noble hero, but I cannot take it anymore."

She stands abruptly, and he tries to say something, anything, but the words are heavy in his throat, it feels like his tongue is melting in his mouth, and he can only manage a faint whimper.

"Congratulations, you fought well, and you won despite my best efforts. I acknowledge your worth", she says lightly, with a false smile, as though she was rewarding a ten years old child. "Now, the time has come to take drastic measures. We will see how the game turns, this time around."

He struggles to keep his eyes open, but an irresistible force is dragging his lids down. In a last effort, Link, the hero of Hyrule, watches the princess walk from him in a rustle of her dress, her silky tresses floating behind her in the morning breeze.

"Such a pity you will not be there to see it."


End file.
